Helically beaded container



Feb.17,1970 y c. RAGE-rm .I 34,495,736

HELIGALLY BEADED. CONTAINER Filed June 17. 196s firme/vim'.

United States Patent O U.S. Cl. 220-72 3 ClaimS ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE An open-top container is described in which a frustoconical body is formed with alternating beads and furrows arranged in a helical pattern to strengthen the container in both the axial and radial directions, and in which the container bottom is inset to form an abutment which maintains the containers in a predetermined spaced relationship when nested together.

The present invention relates to open-top containers, and in particular to such a Icontainer having a frustoconical body with a bottom closure xed at the smaller end, and in which stiffening beads are used to increase the strength of the container body.

Open-top containers have the general advantage of stacking into a limited space by nesting one into another, with the only unused space being the relatively small gap between the bottoms of two adjacent containers. However, since container weight and wall thickness are desira bly kept to a minimum, it has been found necessary to reinforce the body or sidewall of the container in some manner. This has usually been accomplished by forming the body with one or more spaced peripheral beads disposed in parallel planes perpendicular to the central axis of the container body.

The former technique has the drawback that the advantages of stacking or nesting within a relatively small space are impaired. When open-top containers having circumferential beads are nested, the outwardly projecting edge of the lower bead of a rst container being inserted into a second container will interfere with the upper edge of the latter, and prevent further nesting. If the bead or beads of the second container project inwardly, nesting is prevented by interference with the body of the first container. Thus, the bottoms are kept widely spaced and the relatively large volume lying therebetween is unusable.

In view of the foregoing, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved open-top container having a body which is reinforced by at least one bead which wraps around the container body to supply reinforcement in both the axial and radial directions, but which can nevertheless be nested into a similar container with only a relatively small amount of resulting unusable space.

A further object is to provide an open-top container of the foregoing description which may be nested within a similar container without jamming or binding, and with a predetermined axial distance between the bottom of each succeeding nested container.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings, in which:

FIGURE l is a side elevation of an open-top container embodying the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a side sectional elevation of three containers of the type shown in FIG. 1 nested together for storage.

While the invention will be described in connection with a particular exemplary embodiment, it will be understood that it is not intended to so limit the invention, but

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it is instead intended to cover all alternative and equivalent constructions as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Turning to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 an open-top shipping container embodying the present invention. The container includes a body wall 10 of frustoconical shape with opposite ends having larger and smaller diameters, respectively. At the larger end, a rolled bead or rim 11 is provided to present a smooth lip surface and to provide strength. At the smaller end, which constitutes the bottom of the container, a bottom closure member 12 is provided which lies in a plane perpendicular to the cen tral axis of the body 10. The bottom 12 is secured to the lower opening of the body wall 10 by rolling, spot welding, or any other suitable fastening technique.

As a principal feature of the invention, the body wall 10 of the pail container is provided with beads which enhance the stiffness of the container in both the axial and radial directions, while still allowing the resulting containers to be nested within one another. 'Ihis is accomplished by providing the body Wall 10 with a plurality of outwardly projecting beads 13 joined by a like number of inwardly directed furrows 15 which. extend helically around the central axis of the body wall 10. Together, the beads 13 and furrows 15 occupy substantially the entire peripheral surface of the body wall 10.

The use of helically extending beads and furrows according to the invention accomplishes the desired objective of furnishing stiffness in both axial and radial direc tions. Beads of the type used previously, which run merely circumferentially around the body wall 10` in a flat plane perpendicular to the central axis of the container, have the desired property of reinforcing the body against radial and transverse forces, but the disadvantage of actually weakening the body in an axial direction, allowing it to extend or collapse accordion-fashion. On the other hand, longitudinal beads running parallel to the central axis of the body have a tendency to reinforce the body against axial compression, but tend to weaken it to pressures `in a radial direction. lBy contrast, the helical beads of the present invention advantageously reinforce the body wall 10 in both the longitudinal and radial directions and permit a balanced strength to be achieved by proper choice of the angle of inclination or pitch of the beads 13 and furrows 15. As shown in FIG. 1, this angle is indicated as a (alpha). In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the angle of inclination of the bead 13 and furrows 15 with respect to the central axis of the body wall 10 is substantially within the range of from 30 to 60 degrees.

According to the invention, the containers are nested merely by inserting one into another with a rotating or screwing motion which allows the helical beads 13 and furrows 15 to interlock securely in a manner which prevents the nested containers from coming apart in a direct axial direction.

`Containers constructed according to lthe present invention, being capable of being screwed together into tight nesting engagement, can be locked very securely by tightening if desired. However, it is often desirable to maintain a certain amount of predetermined looseness in the form of axial space between the bottoms 12 of adjacent nested containers, to prevent sticking and binding which would make it di'icult to remove the nested containers.

Therefore, according to a further aspect of the invention, a stop ar abutment is provided which is adapted to prevent the containers from being too tightly screwed into one another. For this purpose, an abutment edge 16 is provided upon the bottom closure 12 which engages the lowermost edge of the body wall 10 of the next adjacent nested container. Although the abutment 16 may conveniently be constituted by the bottom 12 of the container, With the bottom being offset inwardly by a pre-V determined distance with respect to the adjacent rim of the body, other constructions in which an offset abutment 16 is provided by other means may be used with equal success.

For nesting, a container is inserted into another container until the beads 13 and furrows 15 begin to engage, whereupon it is rotated to screw it into final engagement in which the lowerrnost rim of the body wall 10 of the rst container engages and stops against the abutment 16 of the second container before the beads 13 and furrows 15 of the nesting containers, which then act as interlocking screw threads, are forced so far into binding engagement that they might tend to wedge or stick.

`Containers constructed according to the present invention may be nested by rotating together into one another with a minimum amount of lost space, and advantageously have a considerable resistance against deformation in both the radial and axial directions. Furthermore, such a container has the additional advantage that an inner lining may be easily rotated into it and thereby retained, and that a plurality of containers nested by rotating into one another are securely linked as a unit to prevent looseness or rattling during trans-port.

The following is claimed as invention:

1. An open-top container comprising, in combination, a substantially frusto-conical body wall having a central axis, and a bottom closing said body wall at its smaller end, said body wall being formed with a plurality of hollow outwardly projecting beads alternating with a plurality of inwardly directed furrows, said beads and said furrows extending helically about said body wall at an angle of inclination substantially within the range of from 30 to 60 degrees with respect to said central axis and together occupying substantially the entire circumferential inner and outer surfaces of said wall, whereby the container is enabled to nest by helical rotational engagement with a like container with its beads threadably engaging the hollow portions of the beads of the next adjacent container in which it is nested.

2. A container as defined in claim 1 having an abutment adjacent to and inset from the smaller diameter of said body by a predetermined distance and engageable with the lower edge of a similar container nested therein,

3. A container as defined in claim 2 wherein the bottom is offset inwardly with respect to the adjacent smaller end of the frusto-conical body to constitute said abutment.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,345,876 4/1944 Kohrtz 220-97 3,194,468 7/1965 Baron. 3,357,593 12/1967 Sears et al. 220-72 3,375,954 4/1968 Honkanen et al. 220-97 FOREIGN PATENTS 978,982 1/1965 Great Britain.

GEORGE T. HALL, Primary Examiner JAMES R. GARRETT, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

